TRANSPARENT ENGAGEMENT

As a school committed to solving real world public problems, we recognize and support the significant value of faculty engagement with public and private actors outside of HKS. At the same time, as a school dedicated to serving the public interest, we understand that in the public mind and often in academia, the independence of research findings, policy analysis, public positions, and even teaching can be questioned when it is funded by or when the author receives significant outside support from a company, industry, national government or other organization which may have a financial, ideological, or political stake in that academic work.

To address this concern, Harvard University and Harvard Kennedy School have adopted a set of disclosure and conflict of interest policies. The policies aim to balance the value of involvement with the real world actors we seek to understand, the legitimate desire of the public for transparency, and the autonomy and privacy interests of individual faculty members. A simple summary of our goal is "transparent engagement." This website is one of many tools available to our faculty for the purpose of public disclosure.